"We lost them." I breathed, then became worried. We had lost them, but what about everyone else? God, I hoped those people were okay. I was sure I'd seen a protection bubble on the bug, but at those speeds, it might not make a difference.
Ahead of us, cars were slowing for the traffic light. "It's red, Rachel," Jenks said, and I slammed on the brakes, adrenaline making the motion too fast. Jenks yelped, and Trent reached for the dash, glaring at me. I couldn't believe they'd tried to take us out on the interstate! I'd been under death threats before, but there were niceties to be observed, union rules. This wasn't them!
Silent, Trent folded up the map, tucking it away with precise motions. He looked calm, but I was starting to shake. "Nicely done," he said and I almost lost it, my hands clenching the wheel until my knuckles were white. Nicely done? There were people hurt back there, and I felt a sudden surge of panic as three ambulances went by, headed for the interstate. Everyone in that VW bug was probably dead. And the truck driver. And the four cars behind him. The guy in the Jag was probably okay. Probably.
My foot started to jiggle, and when the light turned green, I crept up on the car ahead of us, pushing it into moving. I wanted out of the car, like now.
Jenks flew to the rearview mirror when Trent rolled his window all the way down to get rid of the scent of cinnamon and wine, and something in me eased as I turned right onto Memorial. He was shaken and trying not to show it. More sirens wailed, and Jenks landed on the steering wheel, giving me a worried look as a fire truck went by, headed for the on-ramp. People were hurt. Because of me? Trent? Did it matter?
"We're going to stop, right?" Trent asked, his eyes on Riverside Park as we passed it.
"Why? Think you'll get a better view of the accidents from up on top of the arch?" I asked sarcastically. This was way more than I'd expected when I agreed to escort him to the coast, and I was long past wishing I'd told him to shove his little problem and taken my chances by myself. My foot was shaking as I stopped at another light. The church was right next to us, and in a split-second decision, I turned the blinker on.
"Okay," I said as I glanced behind us at the flashing lights on the interstate. "We're ditching the car. Get your stuff together."
"Ditching the car?" Trent stared at me like I'd said we were going to walk to the moon.
"Right now," I said as the light changed and I turned into the quiet parking lot, ignoring the DO NOT PARK sign. "You hear those sirens? We left the scene of an accident, one we helped make. There's no way we can go back there, which makes this a marked car, and not just by your friends from Seattle. Soon as we find Ivy, she'll carry your bag, Mr. Kalamack. Think you can handle it that long?"
"First smart thing you've done all day," Trent muttered, his fingers tapping.
Jenks exhaled loudly, his wings an excited red as I put the car in park and turned the engine off. I was moving almost before the car stopped, gathering my stuff and jamming everything but the bag of trash into my bag, Trent's sunglasses included.
Trent was already out of the car, and I popped the trunk. My fingers trembled as I worked the door handle, finally getting the stupid thing open. Cool air slipped in, and the sound of kids. Damn, that had been close. What the devil were they putting in their coffee in Seattle?
"Where's my phone?" I said, hearing it start to hum. "Jenks, have you seen my phone?"
Jenks darted to the floorboards. "It's under the seat!" he said, then added, "It's Ivy."
I stretched, reaching for it, exhaling loudly as my fingers found the smooth plastic. I wished my fingers would stop shaking. Jenks zipped out from under the seat, and flipping my phone open, I muttered, "I think we lost them. We're abandoning the car. Where are you?"
"From the sounds of the sirens, I'd say a couple of blocks away," she said. "What's going on?"
"I wish I knew." Getting out, I looped my bag over my shoulder and grabbed my coat and Ivy's laptop. Jenks was a sparkle of dust as he searched the car, giving me a thumbs-up before he joined Trent. Trent already had our luggage out from the back, and he slammed the trunk shut hard, his hands going to his hips as he squinted at the busy road, the wind from the nearby Mississippi River shifting his shirt to show the familiar mark on his shoulder.
"We're at the church," I told Ivy. "I got your laptop, and we're going to walk in. Soon as we find you, we'll head to your car." Worry pinched my brow. "Ivy, they tried to kill us on the interstate. A semi tipped over, and I think they killed a carload of people. Someone will remember my mom's car."
"You're at the church?" she asked, not caring. "You can't park there."
"I'm not parking, I'm abandoning," I said, frustrated as I looked at the big, hand-painted sign. My mom would not be happy. She'd been royally pissed off when I'd left her car at a pull-off by the Ohio River last year. At least this time the car was in my name and she wouldn't be getting the impound notice.
"Ivy, I gotta go," I said, not able to handle everything I had and my suitcase, too.
"I'm on my way," she said, and I could hear the hoot of a steamship through the connection before it cut off.
I closed my phone and tucked it away, worry settling in deep as I looked from Trent, standing behind the car with our stuff, to the road. We'd find Ivy, and then we'd be out of here. "Can anything else go wrong today?" I whispered, thinking I could have been sitting on a dock somewhere drinking coffee by now if the coven had let me fly.
"Uh, you gotta stop saying stuff like that," Jenks said, darting up in a wash of dust. Alarmed, I followed his gaze across the busy street.
"Crap on toast," I said, the dappled sun going cold on me as I saw three blond men in slacks and polo shirts. They must have left their car on the interstate and walked. It wasn't that far, and a feeling of ice seemed to slip through me as I took them in.
One had really long hair; the other was short but perfectly proportioned; and the third, in the middle, reminded me of Quen, even though he looked nothing like him. It was his pace, both predatory and graceful. The other two carried themselves with a belligerent swagger, shoulders back, arms swinging, and hands well away from their sides. The Withons had gotten serious.
All three were watching us as they waited for four lanes of traffic to clear, but upon seeing me notice them, the one with the long hair simply stepped out into the street, his hand raised. Horns blew and cars screeched to a halt, the drivers yelling out their windows, ignored.
Trent turned to the noise, his lips parting as he took a deep, resolute breath. Funny, I'd have thought he'd look scared, not determined, and I stifled a surge of what might be a feeling of kinship.
"Well?" he asked me, looking surprisingly calm.
"Find Ivy," I said, digging through my shoulder bag for a stick of magnetic chalk and reaching out for the city's ley lines. I sucked my breath in as I found the one the arch was pinning down. Holy cow, it was big and way stronger than the one under Cincy's university. It felt slippery, being next to so much water, and had a metallic flavor, like fish.
I looked up with the chalk in my hands, surprised to find Trent still standing there with his suitcase, Jenks hovering between us. "Go!" I shouted, pushing the chalk into Trent's hand and giving him a shove. "Find Ivy. I'll take care of this and catch you up." Oh God. I could do this, right? Where was my black-arts bodyguard when I needed him?
"Rache...," Jenks whined, but Trent looked at the chalk in his hand and nodded. Saying nothing more, he turned and walked quickly away, with his suitcase, headed for the arch.
"Stay with him, will you?" I asked Jenks, my attention on the three guys. They had gotten to the median and hadn't slowed down. "Maybe get him to run a little?" I added, trying to be funny as I glanced at the worried pixy. "I'll be right behind you. Piece of cake."
"I don't like this."
My eyes flicked back to him, seeing his worry in the slant of his brow. "Me neither, but who do you think needs you more right now? I'll catch you up. Go! It's just three guys. Once you get Trent to Ivy, you can come back and play."
He made a face, and with a harsh clatter, he bobbed up and down in agreement, then zipped after Trent, telling him to hurry up, that they had things to do today other than play tourist.
I felt better with Jenks watching Trent, but nervousness prickled through me as I turned back to the three blonds, now at the curb. The one with the long hair peeled off and started for Trent.
"Hey, Legolas!" I shouted, my boots grinding the gravel as I shifted. "You want him, you go through me."
Ignoring me, he continued on. That was just insulting, and gathering up a wad of fish-tasting ever-after, I threw it at him.
The guy with the long hair raised his hand, a protection bubble flashing into existence to deflect the ever-after. Standard move. I hadn't really expected my first shot to land, and I started backing up more, my feet finding grass as I moved under the huge trees. But the men stopped, and that was all I wanted for the moment.
Side by side, the three men looked at me, traffic passing behind them in an uncaring blur. The guy with the long hair seemed to be the leader, and he frowned at Trent, disappearing through the bushes, before turning back to me. "Whatever he's paying you, the Withons will double it if you turn your back for ten minutes," he said loudly, and my face burned.
Why was I not surprised? Elves were elves. "He's not paying me anything," I said, just now realizing it. I was either really smart or really stupid.
The short guy on the end snorted his disbelief. "You're kidding."
Embarrassed, I backed up until the roots of a thick tree stopped me. "And even if he was, I don't work like that," I said. "Obviously you do. Pathetic. I should have known you were amateurs when you tried to take us out on the expressway. You keep that up, and the union is going to come down hard on you. There are traditions for this kind of thing, procedures. Or haven't you been playing the game long enough to know?"
I was stalling, and the guy with the long hair knew it, taking a moment to tie his hair back and frown at the arch behind me. I glanced back, a knot of worry easing when I realized Trent was gone.
"Who wants the pleasure?" he asked, and the one in the middle, the one who reminded me of Quen, smiled.
"I'll do it," he said, and I tensed, shocked when a heavy lassitude filled me. My legs buckled, and that fast, I was on my knees, the tingle of wild magic coursing through me, robbing me of strength. There was music in my head, like green, growing things, and my hands hit the ground, bits of twigs biting into my palms, making them tingle. I gasped, my lungs reluctant to expand.
I fought it, finding strength from the ley line. I pulled it into me, feeling it burn. Teeth clenched, I looked up through the strands of my hair. The man in the middle widened his eyes as if in surprise. And then he started to sing.
My breath escaped me in a rush as his words washed over me, and my head bowed. My elbows trembled, and everything I had won back left me. "Stop...," I whispered. I couldn't think, the thick, muzzy blanket swallowing me up as he sang, the lazy words unclear as they became my entire world. My pulse shifted, becoming slower, meeting his song beat for beat. It was too slow, and I fought for control, failing.
I felt myself start to fall, and a warm arm caught me, gently cradling me. I could smell cinnamon and wine, bitter and spoiled. I couldn't fight the music beating its way into my existence, making me live to a rhythm too slow, and my eyes shut as someone propped me up against the tree. I was losing my hold on the ley line, and in terror, I reached for it, trying to make a protection bubble in my mind to wall the music off. But it was already in my head, and I couldn't separate it from me. It was too beautiful. I couldn't help but listen.
"That was easy," I heard the long-haired elf say derisively, but I couldn't move. Couldn't fight the lassitude that had become my world, hated and familiar from my childhood.
"You have her then?" the voice asked, and finally the singing stopped. The fatigue lingered as the song echoed in my brain, circling over and over, going more slowly each time. It was killing me.
"Go," a breathy voice said, and my head landed on a shoulder. "I'll be done by the time you finish Kalamack."
Oh God. Trent. But the spark quickly died. My breathing had slowed to a shallow hint. I was faltering. I recognized it. I'd lived this before when I was younger. The grass sighed as two of them left, and it was only me and the elf singing me to death. So beautiful I couldn't let it go, couldn't forget it, mesmerized.
The air grew cold on my face, and I realized I was crying. I didn't want to die like this. Damn elf magic. Wild magic. Divine, slippery...alive, uncontrollable.
Uncontrollable, I thought, fastening on that idea. Malleable. I couldn't control wild magic, couldn't fight it. But maybe I could...change it.
My heart gave a thump, and refused to beat again as the man's voice faltered, leaving a single note in my mind to spiral down to a long, soft hum. Om, perhaps. The sound of peace, the sound of death.
Not yet, I thought, and then I added to it, giving my mind an ugly note to follow the one of pure beauty, and my heart gave a beat at the harshness of it, discordant and wrong. The arms holding me jumped in surprise, jarring me, and I added a new note to follow my first.
I could hear him singing again, the words unclear and so exquisite it broke my heart. My jaw clenched, and I drowned the purity of his song with my own ugly music, harsh and savage-survival. It was never beautiful except for its pure honesty.
Again my heart beat, and I took a sip of air, breaking away from the elven spell, tingling with wild magic as control came flooding back, his hold on me broken. My eyes flashed open. I was sitting on the ground, my back to a tree, his arm around me like a lover, sleeping in the sun as he sang to me.
Son of a bitch.
I sat up out of his reach, turning to see the shock in his green eyes as his voice faltered. There was a hint of resemblance to Trent in them, and I felt a moment of doubt. Could he do this, too? "That was a mistake," I rasped, and then I plowed my fist right into his gut.
The man grunted, bending over and bringing his knees to his chest. I swung my legs around to kneel, reaching for his hair. It was soft, like silk, and I clenched my fingers in it, anger giving me strength. I slammed the back of his head against the tree, and as he groaned, I staggered to my feet, giving him a mean kick in the ribs, hard enough to at least crack one or two, if not break them. I was pissed.
"You son of a bitch!" I yelled, seeing the mothers nearby gathering their kids and moving them away. "Try to kill me with your magic? Have a taste of mine!" I shouted, shredding the last of the music in my mind, trying to get rid of it completely.
He looked up at me, the pain from his ribs making him squint. I put my hand on his face, and flooded him with ever-after, burning the last of the wild magic from me with my own. He screamed and tried to pull away, but I followed him down, having to kneel when he fell over.
"You are slime, you hear me?" I shouted, wiping my eyes as I pulled away, my hand throbbing and me not caring. "Slime! And you know what? The Withons are slime, too, and Trent's going to make it to the West Coast if it kills me. And it won't!" Heart pounding, I gave him another kick, thinking I should do a lot more. All those people dead on the expressway. Glancing at the empty park, I went and picked up my bag, searching until I found my lipstick. Throwing the cap away, I scrawled "I killed them" on his forehead.
Panting, I lurched to my feet and dropped the ruined lipstick on his chest. He whimpered, his synapses singed. He wouldn't be doing magic any time soon. Turning to the park, I pushed myself into a staggering, ugly run.
I did not like St. Louis.